Otitis media is among the most common childhood diseases, and otitis media sequelae are frequent in adults. A multidisciplinary team of basic and clinical scientists has led otitis media research at the University of Minnesota since 1978, when the University's Otitis Media Research Center (OMRC) was formed. The OMRC mission is to create a collaborative environment for interdisciplinary research that stimulates advancement in understanding otitis media pathogenesis, to inspire new developments in diagnostic technology, treatment and prevention modalities, and to generate and disseminate fundamental and clinical knowledge, thereby, enhancing patient care. The Otitis Media Core Center will support 16 currently NIH-funded base research projects (12 NIDCD-funded) and an additional two recently submitted projects. OMRC research is focused in basic molecular, cellular, microbial, immunological, animal modeling, population science, and clinical studies. Research productivity is demonstrated in the more than 400 peer-reviewed publications from OMRC faculty. Most of the proposed Core Laboratories were developed under NIDCD P01 support from 1978 to 1996. The Analytical Pathobiology Core will continue to provide expertise and techniques in microbiology, immunology, biochemistry, molecular biology, and histopathology. It will also provide antibodies, probes, archival samples, bacteria or bacterial components, and a complete range of histological and molecular biological services on human and animal temporal bones. Services include light and electron microscopy, histochemistry, immunohistochemistry, immunogold, quantitative image analysis, Northern blot, RNA protection assay, Western blot, in situ hybridization, competitive RT-PCR, representative differential display, and molecular expression and cloning. Immunological expertise includes immunoassay development, immunological reagent production, molecular characterization of a pneumococcal library used in otitis media animal modeling, and refinement of animal modeling surgical techniques. The Human Subjects & Biostatistics Core will continue to be responsible for assisting base project PIs in study design, data collection and processing, quality control, data storage and retrieval, and data analysis of all studies to provide all investigators with a high level and broad range of expertise in data management and analysis. A unique feature of the Core will be the provision of pilot data for new projects drawing from databases and participants from previous OM studies. The key areas are quality control and standardization of data analyses. The key areas are in both Cores are quality assurance, assay standardization, and utilization of the most sensitive methodologies available. Together, the Cores will greatly enhance the OMRC infrastructure, allowing highly productive basic and clinical scientists to conduct research on a broad range of middle and inner ear disorders.